Scientists from the International Potato Center (CIP) are using wild potatoes to develop climate-resilient varieties.

These potatoes are tolerant to heat and drought and
resistant to late blight and bacterial wilt, the most important diseases of the
tuber.

"Developing potato varieties that are resistant to
diseases can substantially reduce production costs and help improve the income
and diet of small potato producers," stated the institution.

According to the entity, researchers have spent the last
four years evaluating wild potatoes, which are generally inedible, that were
kept in the CIP germplasm bank in Lima and that were crossed with other potato
varieties thanks to the support of Crop Trust and the Government of Norway.

In fact, the CIP germplasm bank holds one of the world’s
largest collections of wild potato relatives, some of which grow in areas of
inclement weather or under the pressure of pests and diseases. These varieties
have developed mechanisms that allow them to cope with extreme conditions, a
characteristic that scientists seek to transfer to cultivated varieties.

According to the CIP, since the wild relatives are very
different from cultivated species, researchers must conduct a laborious process
of pre-breeding before crossing the species. "The second phase of the Crop
Trust support will allow CIP scientists to continue pre-breeding work for two
more years, while sharing potato clones containing resistance genes from wild
potatoes with other crop improvement programs," they added.

Thiago Mendes, a potato breeder and project leader, said:
"We are going to share our resilient potatoes with breeding programs in
Kenya, Peru, and around the world so that they are crossbred with locally
adapted potatoes."

Mendes said that the bacterial wilt and late blight were
causing significant economic losses, especially among small farmers in Africa,
a problem that will only increase with climate change.

"Small producers can not always acquire the fungicides
they need to control late blight, which means they are hit the hardest. In
addition, since the late blight pathogen is evolving rapidly, the effectiveness
of the fungicides diminishes with the passage of time. The wild relatives of
crops represent a new and valuable source of resistance," he added.